New Feature! "What I'm Listening To Now" by Rhonda Thomas

What I'm Listening To Now
By Rhonda Thomas

Publisher's Note: SoulTrackers usually keep up on what’s new in soul music by reading our reviews and First Listen stories. But we thought it would be cool to ask some of our favorite artists what they are listening to, and share that with SoulTrackers. We hope you enjoy the first of our new series, “What I’m Listening To,” with today’s contributer, noted singer and songwriter Rhonda Thomas. 

I have been humbled every time I get a positive review or an award nomination from Soul Tracks. I was pleasantly surprised when Soul Tracks posted an op-ed piece that I wrote a couple of years ago about live performances. And I was honored when Chris Rizik recently asked me to write about music that I am listening to these days.

There are two groups and one individual artist that I want to share with the Soul Trackers.   I'm super excited about this first group of musicians called Grut. Three of its members were high school students in a band I helped mentor called "Audio Wolf". That was a jazz-fusion band but this new group that they formed, Grut has a very unique sound infused with jazz, experimental, electronic, rock, funk and soul. Their self-titled EP Grut is available at CDBaby and at grut.bandcamp.com.  These young jazz cats are the future!

The newest album that I am listening to is Anderson .Paak’s Malibu.  You might already be hip to him but I only discovered him last year because of his guest appearance on Dr. Dre’s album, Compton.  I am loving this guy’s musical choices and the diversity in sounds.  As he is a singer, rapper, and producer, I am fascinated by his influences.  The project is intelligent and fun and very cutting edge.  The lyrics are explicit and this is not my pick for a family outing but check it out and let me know what you think.

The act I especially want to talk about is SouthWesTerminal (SWT). It is a group of four musicians from Atlanta's southwest side who have teamed up to create music they call "A Dirty South-Funkier version of Snarky Puppy." Their debut single, “Time Traveler” was released on January 26, 2016 and the self-titled album SouthWesTerminal is scheduled for a March 2016 release.  I have had the honor of sharing the stage with these musicians playing with my band, but hearing their original work is amazing!  I especially love "How It Feels" which features soul singer Musiq Soulchild. Just remember that I told you first, SouthWesTerminal is hot!

SouthWesTerminal feat. Musiq Soulchild
"How It Feels"